Metamorphosis
by swimpukuloser
Summary: College AU. Sakura is going to college to become a nurse, and her life is going great. Sasuke swore he would never return to his home town after he had abandoned it on high school graduation night. Somewhere along the road of life, they meet again. (This is a re-write of my original story which I have deleted from my account)
1. Chapter 1

So sorry that I ended up deleting the story that was on my account. I wrote it in like October and I just lost all motivation for it. I also re-read it and it was CRINGE to the max. There were only a few people who favorited it and followed it, so to them - I'm sorry I deleted it! But also, thank you for supporting me and my stories. I'm now going to try to recreate this story and just make it better and actually take my time with it. That's all, thank you guys 3

* * *

_Prologue_

_two years ago - graduation night_

Sakura stood in her bedroom nervously pacing back and forth. Today was going to be a great day, she kept telling herself, despite the dark and sinking feeling she would get in her gut every time she thought about walking across the stage and getting her diploma. It wasn't just that she was nervous that she would trip and fall walking onto the stage, or anything embarrassing like that, she just had another terrible feeling and she could not place the reason why.

The graduation ceremony was set to begin at 7 pm, but the seniors needed to be there for 6 pm to get everything ready, and to straighten out any kinks in their formation walking out onto the field and the stage. Sakura had been anxiously pacing back and forth for almost an hour, as it was already 4:30 pm. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for, or exactly why she felt this way.

_Bzz bzz bzz_

Just then, her phone buzzing ripped her from her nervous trance.

"Hello?"

"Sakura! Are you almost ready? I was going to pick up Shika and then I was going to come get you so we could go to Starbucks before we need to be at the school!" Her blonde-haired best friend yelled from the other side of the phone.

"Well, I was kind of getting ready, and then I uhh... I kind of stopped."

"What do you mean stopped? We have to be there in like, an hour! Please tell me you showered already at least."

"Yeah, yeah, I showered already. I have my dress on, too. I just can't bring myself to curl my hair or to put any makeup on, I guess. It just seems like it will be all too real then. Like, how crazy is this? This will be the last night we see everyone who has been in our lives for the last 12 years. We're all going to be going separate ways..."

"Jeez, Sakura. Way to be a downer! Well, don't worry. I'll tell Shikamaru that he's saved, I won't be picking him up. I'll come to your house and help you get ready if you think that will make you feel better?" Sakura could hear Ino's hopeful smile through the phone.

"Sure, I'd like that. Thanks, Ino-pig." Sakura smiled and hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, Ino arrived at Sakura's house and perhaps a little bit forcefully, began helping her get ready for their high school graduation ceremony.

* * *

A loud, blond, obnoxious fellow was screeching that Sasuke ought to start getting ready for graduation. Sasuke almost _literally_ couldn't care less about the graduation festivities, so long as he got his diploma and his transcripts for the college he would be attending, then there was no problem.

"Sasuke-teme! Come on, man! It's already almost 5! We gotta get to the school soon!" Naruto was jumping up and down in his graduation outfit. He had already begun putting his gown on and everything, whereas Sasuke was still wearing shorts and a black t-shirt.

"What do you mean, soon? We still have at least an hour to get to the school." Sasuke retorted, crossing his arms.

"Well, we need to DRIVE to the school still! You know, and there will probably be traffic and stuff since this is a big event and we'll get in trouble if we aren't there at 6!"

"And what are they gonna do if we don't get there on time? Give us detention? Hn." Sasuke walked away to the window of Naruto's bedroom, ignoring whatever response Naruto had to his rebuttal. He gazed outside wondering why he had even agreed to get ready at Naruto's house before graduation. In all reality, it seemed like a big mistake. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't one to get nervous or frazzled, but something about the day in general had him on high alert. And it didn't help that Naruto was being more hyper-active than usual.

He had been planning something for a while and he just didn't know if he could go through with it. It was something like the senior trip that all of the seniors would take to the beach, except he would not be returning back to his home town, ever.

While many would think it to be a sad and nostalgic night, the raven-haired senior could not care any less. Not that he hated anyone in his class, but he just figured it best not to form bonds with people (other than Naruto and maybe even Sakura) for the reason that a bond can be severed so easily at any point in time. And he just didn't trust anyone really.

* * *

_three and a half hours later_

The boring, and uneventful, graduation finally came to a close. All of the seniors who were going on the senior trip to the beach had their bags packed in their cars and were ready to go that night. Sakura was one of them. Ino had convinced her to go, only because Naruto had convinced Sasuke to go, or so he thought.

At the end of the night, when everyone was done sharing their fondest memories and wishing good luck to one another, the grand departure had begun. Many new graduates walked to their cars and embarked on their final hoo-rah with the people they have known for almost their entire lives.

There was only a small group of people left standing on the field talking and goofing around and that consisted of Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke (who was indeed brooding in the corner).

"Alright guys, what do you say we get on the road? By time we drive there, it will be around 6 am. It'll be awesome to witness a sunrise on the beach for our first day on our senior vacation!" Naruto shouted, giving a good fist pump in the air for good measure. Mostly everyone agreed, except for the pinkette and the raven-haired man, seemingly communicating through facial expressions in from across the group.

"Sakura, what do you say? You ready to leave? I got room for one more passenger! Who wants in!?" Ino screamed, which scared Sakura out of her trance.

"Hinata? Want to come with the girls?!" Ino shouted again.

"Well, actually, Naruto-kun invited me to go with him and I was truly hoping for that, so, I'm sorry but I will have to decline. But thank you anyways!" Hinata smiled sincerely.

Everyone smirked in Naruto's general direction.

"I will be the chaperone. Do not worry, everyone. Did you think I would let my dear cousin go alone with this idiot?" Neji asked, scoffing and motioning his hands toward a blushing Naruto.

"Let's get going everyone!" Naruto started walking toward the parking lot where they had all parked next to each other. It was Naruto and Sakura, who both noticed that they were missing a member of their group. They had turned around to see Sasuke walking in the opposite direction that they had been going in.

Ino gave Sakura an understanding look, giving Sakura the reassurance she needed to go and talk to him and figure out what was wrong. Naruto was also going to go but he was stopped by the group. They had all known about Sakura's feelings for Sasuke even though she had never told any of them out-loud other than Ino and maybe Naruto one time in the past, half-jokingly.

As Sakura began walking toward Sasuke, she felt that each step she took was leading him further and further away from her, and that she was only getting closer to the disappointment that had been looming and giving her that dark feeling all day long.

She stopped a few feet behind him.

"Hey." She said, somewhat breathlessly.

Sasuke did not say a word. He didn't even turn around. He knew she would be the one that would notice his absence. He knew she would come for him. He knew she would be the one to try and win him back, even though he knew that she knew he was too long gone.

They stood there in silence for an awkward minute, his back still turned to her.

"Why?" Was all that Sakura could muster up the courage to ask. She knew Sasuke was a private person and that if he even decided to answer, it probably would not be the truth. The truth would mean that she was close to him and his heart, and she knew that was not true.

"Why what, Sakura?"

She shivered at the way he had said her name. It was different than when he had greeted her at the graduation ceremony just a few hours ago. He had a whole different demeanor. Sure he had his moments of being stoic and uncaring, but this was a whole new level. It was as if he did not care about anything, as if he did not ever care.

"Why are you leaving? Where are you going? Because I know that you're not coming on the trip with us, I just had this feeling all day and... Can I just ask, why?"

He scoffed. He had to keep the tough-act up. It was the easiest way to protect himself. Sakura was his soft spot, and he knew it all along.

"I have nothing left here." He stated. His mother and father were traveling all around the world, contacting him around Christmas time, his birthday, and a few other times throughout the year. His brother had always been the favorite and he was doing exceedingly well for himself (and more importantly for the family), he had been groomed to carry out the Uchiha business since he was a child. Itachi was always preferred over Sasuke.

But Sasuke was determined. He was determined to succeed. Itachi had done it with their parents money. Sasuke was determined to do it without their parents' money, he wanted to do it all on his own. He knew he couldn't see any personal growth if he stayed close to home. He would be too comfortable. He needed to push himself out of his comfort zone so that he could succeed.

Sakura felt the aura between them darkening and she walked up to Sasuke and placed her hand on his shoulder, to which he flinched away from and glared at her.

"Don't-"

"Sasuke, listen."

"Don't bother, Sakura. I don't- I can't hear this right now."

"Sasuke, please," Sakura pleaded with him, her breathing getting heavier as she felt her world crashing around her. The man she had loved and cared for for so many years of her life was about to uproot himself from the comfortable place he had in her heart and crush it.

"Sasuke, I... I don't know if you had ever figured it out, or if you had ever known of these feelings that I have for you... I had always hoped you felt the same way, too. But I love you. Fully and wholeheartedly, I love you. Without a doubt in the world." Sakura pleaded again, "Look at me, please, see the love in my eyes. Can't you see the way you're hurting me now? And can't you imagine how you will be hurting Naruto, too? We both care so much for you."

Sasuke finally chanced a glance at her and he had to admit (to himself only) that it did hurt to see her so broken. And he was mentally cursing himself for not leaving sooner. For not getting his diploma earlier and making up some excuse for why he could not go to graduation and why he would need the diploma early. He shouldn't have tried to have one last good night with everyone. Clearly it was too painful, he was hurting the only ones he had cared about previously.

But he had to stay strong, he had to do it, he had to move on because success was what he was after. He could not just sit around comfortably waiting for his chance in the world. He wanted and needed to be like a wolf. He needed to be strong, confident, and he had to go after what was his in this world. His destiny.

"Sakura, I do think I knew of your feelings. I think it would be best if... If you just forgot about me entirely." Sasuke began, looking at the expression of disbelief on his former classmate's face.

"How could I ever forget you? I can't believe you think I could just do that, no, I love you too much. I can't simply just forget." Sakura was sobbing at this point.

"Sakura. It is for the best. You need to move on. I can not reach my full potential in the comfort of my home town. I can't deal with these _distractions _such as love and friendships. These bonds that were made need to now be broken. We need to move on."

"How can you say that? Naruto and I have always supported you! And we always will, how can you just-just push us out of your life like this? This isn't okay!" Sakura sighed heavily, wiping the tears from her cheeks onto her dress. She took another deep breath, slowly in, slowly out.

She realized she was not going to be victorious in convincing her love to stay. She knew that in the end, he would abandon her. He would abandon Naruto. He would abandon them, because in the end, they were not what mattered to him. They were not important.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Sakura. It's over. High school is over, that is what tonight was all about. Moving on. I have to move on. As do you. Now, goodbye." Deep down, it even hurt Sasuke to say all of those things to Sakura. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, it was just how it was, though. He knew it was inevitable. He dared not to look back as he turned around and continued walking toward his car which was parked in the opposite lot that everyone else had parked in.

Sakura cried out his name a few more times before falling to her knees on the football field and again, letting those hot tears she tried so hard to keep in fall from her sea green eyes.

She felt so ridiculous and ashamed, sitting there. She felt like a failure. She could not get Sasuke to stay. She was simply not enough. There was a point at which time she believed maybe he did care about her and Naruto. Maybe he did care about how they felt, but after that night, she was proven wrong.

Soon enough, her friends all ran over to her, crouching down and hugging her. Naruto had tried going after Sasuke, but he had already ripped away in his car, clearly over conversation and wanting to get the hell out.

Naruto had walked back to the group with a defeated look on his face, representing perfectly what Sakura had felt for the rest of the night, the entirety of their senior trip, and for months and months after that.

Things soon would change though, college would be a whole new experience that would be a perfect time for personal growth and for a transition into something more beautiful, and more whole, a metamorphosis.

* * *

WOW! This turned out a lot better than I had anticipated! Leave a review, any suggestions, anything at all! Thank you for reading! 3 you guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 y'all :) It's only three days since I wrote the first chapter so let's hope that I keep up this work ethic for the story!

* * *

_Present Day - 2nd Year of University_

As was expected, Sakura and Ino got an apartment together by the university they chose to attend. The prestigious school was under a half an hour drive from their home town, which was another reason they had wanted to go there. They liked keeping their roots close to home. Others from their high school also went to the same university like Neji, and Naruto.

Shikamaru and Hinata went to the same private university which was hours away from their home town, but they were doing well during their first two years there.

The areas of study and the programs each individual was involved in are as follows, Sakura chose nursing, Ino chose biology, Naruto was involved with a pre-law program, Neji chose engineering, Hinata chose elementary education, and Shikamaru was still undecided, but had many credits towards chemistry, biology, and also a criminology major.

Everyone had been doing pretty well, and no one could complain too much about the workload they had. They had all learned, for the most part (perhaps except for Naruto) how to manage their time at least somewhat decently and get their work done.

* * *

Sakura sat in her room of her apartment with Ino. The spring semester was set to begin in 3 days. Not that she wasn't ready for it, but she just felt off. The first three semesters of her college career were amazing. Her grades were wonderful, and she felt that she had actually learned a lot of useful information that she could apply to her every day life.

She reflected on the last almost two years. She remembered the painful, and embarrassing graduation night. It had been so long, she almost forgot the sound of Sasuke's voice. She thought that, in a weird way, this was good. At least now, she wouldn't be missing him as much. The first 6 months since he had left them without a trace, she had been the most broken. But she learned how to mend herself, while still accomplishing goals and succeeding in life, and she felt like she was on top of the world.

She didn't know if it was just the type of day it was, but she was feeling sentimental and a bit melancholy. She didn't love Sasuke anymore, that she knew. Getting drunk at college parties and spilling her secrets and love sorrows to girls from all around the country made her realize that Sasuke was toxic, an asshole, and that he just straight up didn't care about her or Naruto.

They made her realize that she would have kept getting hurt if he somehow let her stay in his life. They made her realize a harsh truth that she had been ignoring for a while - that he would _never_ want her. It had been hard to process that information, but after she came to that realization, she had seen how silly she looked from the outside.

A girl, who barely knows the boy, and claims she is desperately in love with him. It was truly just silly. But, enough being sad.

Sakura had work to do.

Ino had dropped off a whole crap-load of clothes from her house, among other random items, and she left for the weekend to go and hang out with her family again. Sakura had needed some alone time to de-stress before the beginning of the semester, so she decided she would stay at their apartment by herself until Ino came back Sunday morning.

The mess was giving Sakura anxiety, and also, she was just bored, so she began folding Ino's clothes (and taking some of them for herself that she figured Ino wouldn't even notice were missing) and organizing the tornado of items Ino had left in their living room and kitchen.

Halfway through her cleaning, Sakura's phone kept ringing. She ignored it at first, figuring it was just Naruto or something and she didn't want to be disturbed during this time. But when her phone kept buzzing, she thought something might be wrong.

She made her way through the sea of unfolded clothes and grabbed her phone. It stopped ringing, but it was Ino. She figured she was bound to call again, and the pinkette was proved right as her phone began buzzing again and a picture of Ino popped up on the screen.

"Yes, hello, Pig? I definitely have a right to call you that now, you left such a mess here!" Sakura teased.

"Well, ya know, I meant to come back to organize everything, but I got kinda lazy. But I am coming back tonight! Well, today, actually in like an hour. There's going to be an awesome party tonight! Naruto told me about it, and he said he texted you about it but you didn't answer. It's pretty much a back to school party, to kick off the beginning of the semester the right way!"

Sakura had to hold the phone away from her ear because it just so happened that she had two blond best friends, who were both extremely loud and obnoxious ALL THE TIME.

"Uh, well, I don't know about that. I was kind of hoping for a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend."

"BS! Come on! I bet you'd have so much fun! Plus, you'll have all day tomorrow and all day Sunday to recover and meditate or whatever the hell it is you do that keeps you de-stressed."

"Alright, alright. We'll see. I haven't decided yet. You better be here in exactly one hour though. I'm ordering food and if you aren't here by the time it gets here, I'm going to call Naruto to come over and you know he will eat it all!" Sakura giggled again into the phone.

"Okay, okay! I'm leaving now, or, um, you know, soon?"

"Tik-tok-tik-tok, Ino." Sakura laughed again before hanging up the phone, again looking at the mess that was still left in the living room. Sakura had cleaned the kitchen up, hanging up the miscellaneous decor that Ino had bought and brought to the apartment.

The sea of unfolded clothes was smaller now, kind of like a lake of unfolded clothes. Sakura laughed at herself at that one. Anything to keep herself optimistic.

In a surprising unfolding of events, Ino had arrived exactly an hour after their phone call, just minutes before their pizza showed up at their door at 6 pm. Sakura had also managed to fold and put away most of the clothes, there was just an undergarment pile that was mostly full of unmatched socks.

"Wow," Ino stated, taking a bite of the hot pizza they just received, "I can't believe you cleaned up all of my mess. I really didn't realize you'd be staying here for the weekend, which is why I figured I would come back Sunday morning to clean it all up." Ino swallowed her food and offered up an apology then.

"It's really no problem." Sakura smiled, taking a sip of water, "It really helped keep my mind off of the beginning of the semester. For some reason, I am really nervous now. I was kind of denying it before, but now, I really feel the anxiety creeping in. It's almost like I'm dreading going back, like how it used to be in middle school."

Ino giggled a little. "Yeah, middle school was just a horrible time for everyone, I think. But you're starting your clinical practices, right? Like, you will be gaining experience in the hospitals now?" Ino questioned.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, most of the groups in our class are going to nursing homes to begin, but the only time that worked with my schedule is the night time clinical, which is at the local hospital. Maybe that's why I'm so nervous. I know all of my stuff by the books, but I just have never put any of this stuff into practice, you know?"

"I understand. That's kind of how I feel in my biology labs all the time. Like, I understand the material in class, and then I get to lab and try to perform the required experiments, and I feel like I just blank out, especially when I am being watched by the professor for a practical exam." Ino sighed. "Well, let's stop talking about school because now I'm getting anxious too!" Ino laughed and grabbed another slice of pizza.

The two friends ate the rest of their dinner in almost silence, except for talking about a few trivial things.

After doing the dishes and putting the leftovers away, Sakura asked Ino if she would help her put the rest of the clothes away and help her finish cleaning the house. Of course Ino wanted to reject that, but considering the mess was all hers, the least she could do is help Sakura clean the rest of it.

As they sat together sorting through socks on the floor together, Ino asked about the party.

"So, do you think you're going to go tonight? I heard there's going to be some hot guys coming over from the school Shikamaru is at! I mean, yeah, they're frat guys, but one of them is bound to be hot _and_ nice, right?!" Ino joked and threw a black sock at Sakura.

"Yeah, I guess I'll go," Sakura said, giving Ino an appreciative look. She truly did appreciate that Ino tried her best to make her more social. Sakura was one who honestly wasn't really interested in guys, or girls, for that matter. She was very focused on her school work and her research. Partially that was because of the disastrous time she had in high school with love, but also, she was just truly in love with the art of helping people. She couldn't wait to some day become a nurse.

"Great!" Ino squealed happily. "Let's start getting ready then. Can I please do your makeup?" Ino made the perfect puppy dog face, begging for a "yes."

Sakura sighed. Maybe this would get her back into the swing of things with school. Maybe it would give her confidence to be more social with people. Sure she had gone to parties and she had made some friends, but she didn't have any real connections with anyone at the school other than her friends from high school.

After a _very, very _long two hours of letting Ino do her makeup and pick her outfit, as well as helping Ino pick out the perfect outfit, they were ready to go. At some point, Hinata had shown up and she brought TenTen along. TenTen and Neji had always had a weird thing going on in high school, but they never acted on their feelings until now, apparently. And since TenTen was close with Neji, she was also close with Hinata.

"So, where is this party tonight?" Sakura asked, realizing she didn't even have the most basic information of the party - the location.

"Oh, ummm, I don't know the actual address, it's somewhere by Naruto's house though. So we'll drive there, and then if we need to crash there, he said we can." Ino responded doing various poses in the mirror and checking herself out.

"Alright, that doesn't sound too bad. It'll only take us like five minutes to drive there. Are you ready?"

Ino nodded in response, and the four girls all got in Ino's car and they began their drive over.

Parking at Naruto's house, there was only one "spot" left, which was parking in front of Naruto's driveway blocking his car in for the night.

Just as they all got out of the car, Naruto walked out of his door, with a few other guys like Kiba, and Naruto's friend Gaara that he met at the university.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing blocking in my car like that!?" Naruto screamed looking at Ino and waving his arms frantically, pointing to her car, then to his driveway, then to his car. He immediately stopped his freak-out once he saw Hinata.

Naruto and Hinata had a little thing going on in high school, but it appeared that neither one of them were brave enough to ask the other one on a real date. Sakura decided that that was her goal tonight, to find the perfect opportunity to push them together. They were the one true perfect match. She couldn't just let them waste any more time pretending that they didn't have feelings for each other.

"Anyways, uh, let's get going to the party! It's just three houses down, but I'm sure you can tell that from the crowd of people." Naruto pointed and began walking in that direction, leading the group."

* * *

Sasuke sat in his car with his head rested on his arms which were resting on his steering wheel. He never thought he would be back in his home town - Konoha. He wasn't sure why he was even back, really.

He had just decided that the college he was at was not sufficient for him. And the fact that he was a brooding asshole didn't help much with making any acquaintances or new friends. Somehow though, he managed to join a fraternity. He did it because he knew it would look good on resumes, and he figured he could take some volunteer opportunities sometimes because even though he was kind of menacing on the outside, deep down on the inside he was _kind of_ a caring person.

But, on a whim, he decided to enroll in the best university his home town had to offer. Even if he didn't like the college as much as he was hoping to, he would still be comfortable in his own element. Something he would never admit though, is that he hoped to reconnect with some of his old acquaintances, or friends. Like Naruto. He wondered if the dobe would even consider letting him back into his life. He wondered about Sakura, too. Did they all move on without him? Did they hate him? Even worse, did they just forget about him?

After a few more minutes brooding in his car, he began unloading his luggage into his new apartment. He was trying to organize his books and supplies for the semester when he began hearing loud music and people shouting and laughing outside. "_Great" _he thought to himself. His first night in his new apartment and there was a loud-ass party going on right next door.

He continued organizing his items until he heard a loud, obnoxious, and extremely familiar voice scream, "HELL YEAH, THE KEGGER IS HERE!"

Sasuke thought he was going insane for a second, but then he looked out his window and saw the very object of the noise - Naruto. And around him were all of his old comrades, one of them being Sakura. She was the last person that he thought would be at a party. He didn't know why he was so shocked by this change in character of her, but he supposed it was not that unrealistic considering they were all almost in their 20's now, and they were all in college.

He stood by his window staring out at them laughing and talking for what seemed like an eternity, until that very same pink-haired girl he knew from high school glanced up at his window and they locked eyes. She stared back for a couple seconds and he ripped his eyes away, turning around and shutting off the light in his bedroom, walking out into the small living room/kitchenette area. He didn't want to see the rest of her reaction.

* * *

"Sakura, Sakura, hello," Ino was shouting, waving her hands in front of Sakura's face. "Earth to forehead-girl." Then Sakura looked at Ino with a blank expression on her face. "Jeez, thought we lost you for a second. Come on, lets's go start drinking. Looks like you need it already."

Sakura followed along silently with Ino into the house, taking a few shots and then plopping down on the couch.

"Sak, what's wrong? You haven't said a word since we got here. You look like you've just seen a ghost." Ino sat next to her friend on the couch, grabbing Sakura's hand.

"I... I feel like I did see a ghost. I would be crazy if I thought I saw Sasuke, right?"

"What do you mean you think you saw him? Where? Here, at the party? Girl, you're trippin. How many shots have you had? Three? Come on, takes a little more than that to make you this way." Ino giggled, getting ready to stand up and mingle with other people, waiting for Shikamaru to show up.

"No, seriously, when we were outside, I had this weird feeling. You know how you can feel when someone is like looking at you? Or like staring at you?"

"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean."

"I felt that, and then I looked up at the window of the house next to this one, and I could've sworn I saw him. Well, whoever the person was, we locked eyes for like, five seconds. Then they walked away and shut off the light." Sakura laughed then at herself, because she really sounded like a psycho who was still heartsick. (Which she wasn't!) Sakura continued, "I guess, yeah, it probably wasn't him. I just stared at a stranger and probably scared him," she trailed off.

* * *

Wow 3,000 word chapter, yay! I have spring break this week and I'm also getting my wisdom teeth out, which means no work for me! So, hopefully I will have more time to write. I'm starting to really like the way this story is going, the other one I had on my account was like this one, but seriously it was so bad. lol. Anyways, give me any suggestions you have and let me know if you liked this chapter!


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